Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what considerations has she made regarding the adequacy of the classification of ketamine as a Class A illicit substance.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Ketamine is a dangerous substance, which can cause irreversible bladder damage and in some cases death. We are concerned about the harms ketamine causes and the rise in ketamine use, particularly among young people. In October 2025 the Department for Health and Social Care launched a campaign to alert young people to the dangers of this drug.
Home Office Ministers have had discussions about these harms, including with families who have tragically lost relatives as a result of taking ketamine and who have shared their own perspectives on the appropriate classification of ketamine within the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (‘the MDA’).
In January 2025 the Government asked the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) to provide an updated harms assessment of ketamine, advice on reducing those harms, and advice on whether ketamine should be moved from Class B to Class A within the MDA. The ACMD carried out a public call for evidence in August 2025, and we expect to receive its report soon. We will then carefully consider its recommendations.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had discussions about the reclassification of ketamine.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Ketamine is a dangerous substance, which can cause irreversible bladder damage and in some cases death. We are concerned about the harms ketamine causes and the rise in ketamine use, particularly among young people. In October 2025 the Department for Health and Social Care launched a campaign to alert young people to the dangers of this drug.
Home Office Ministers have had discussions about these harms, including with families who have tragically lost relatives as a result of taking ketamine and who have shared their own perspectives on the appropriate classification of ketamine within the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (‘the MDA’).
In January 2025 the Government asked the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) to provide an updated harms assessment of ketamine, advice on reducing those harms, and advice on whether ketamine should be moved from Class B to Class A within the MDA. The ACMD carried out a public call for evidence in August 2025, and we expect to receive its report soon. We will then carefully consider its recommendations.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the level of the impact of digital ID on the number of undocumented workers in the grey economy.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Due to the hidden nature of illegal working, there is no reliable estimate on the scale of the issue.
The Digital ID programme is part of a broader strategy to tackle illegal immigration. By making it harder for people without the right to work to gain employment, the government plans to reduce incentives for unlawful entry.
The digital ID will build on the existing digital right to work checks for foreign nationals where eVisa share codes are currently used, further streamlining the process. Digital IDs will:
o Make it easier for employers to comply by standardising and simplifying right to work checks
o Make it easier for British citizens to demonstrate a right to work.
o Remove the reliance on physical documents in the UK, making it harder for forged documents to be used as proof of right to work.
The Cabinet Office will launch a public consultation in the coming weeks and has already started engaging key groups.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether protections against assaults for retail workers in the Crime and Policing Bill will apply to public transport workers involved in the retail of (a) refreshments and (b) rail products and tickets.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Assaults against retail workers will be covered by a new offence which we are introducing via the Crime and Policing Bill. Our definition of retail worker captures someone working in or about retail premises for or on behalf of the owner or occupier of the retail premises.
Our definition is intentionally narrow, and does not include hospitality or transport staff, given the vital need to provide legal clarity and ensure there is no ambiguity for courts in identifying whether an individual is a retail worker and impacted during their job. Any ambiguity in identifying whether an individual is a retail worker, will likely lead the courts to take the case forward as common assault meaning specific recording attributed to a retail worker would not occur.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on trends in the number of (a) hate crimes and (b) instances of racism in communities that have not (i) taken flags down and (ii) removed graffiti.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes official statistics on hate crime offences recorded by the police in England and Wales. The latest release, including information on trends, can be found here: Hate crime, England and Wales, year ending March 2024 - GOV.UK
The Home Office does not hold information on whether flags or graffiti were present or removed from the communities the offences took place in.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had recent discussions with the Foreign Secretary on taking steps to help support Palestinians to access locations to verify their biometric data for UK visa applications.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There are currently two UK Visa Application Centres operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in Ramallah and Jerusalem. The centres in Ramallah and Jerusalem are open twice per week and once every two weeks respectively for biometrics enrolment. The UK Visa Application Centre in Gaza has been closed since 7 October 2023 due to the conflict in the region and to ensure the safety of staff and customers. UKVI will continue to monitor the situation and work closely with the supplier, VFS, to re-open this centre when it becomes safe to do so. There are also Visa Application Centres in neighbouring countries, such as Egypt and Jordan, which are open daily if customers are able to travel to these locations.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department is taking to steps to help support children in Gaza with family members in the UK to come to the UK.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is keeping all existing visa pathways under review in response to events in Gaza. Palestinians who wish to settle in the UK can do so via the existing routes available. Further information can be found on the GOV.UK website: Visas and immigration - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab).
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help reunite people in Gaza with members of their families in the UK.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is keeping all existing visa pathways under review in response to events in Gaza. Palestinians who wish to settle in the UK can do so via the existing routes available. Further information can be found on the GOV.UK website: Visas and immigration - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab).
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether groomed children have been placed on the sex offenders register.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Baroness Casey's Audit signalled concerns that victims of child sexual exploitation have been unjustly criminalised and treated as perpetrators for actions taken whilst under the coercion of groomers. As an immediate first step, we will legislate in the Crime and Policing Bill to introduce a disregard scheme for individuals who as children were convicted or cautioned for the offence of loitering or soliciting for the purposes of prostitution. We will work with relevant bodies across the criminal justice system to ensure any such cases are identified, reviewed and that victims are properly supported.
The notification requirements for sex offenders (often referred to as "the sex offenders' register") are an automatic consequence of a conviction or caution for an offence in Schedule 3 to the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Offenders subject to the notification requirements must notify their personal details (e.g., their name(s), address(es) and national insurance number) to the police annually or whenever their details change. The notification requirements apply to adult and juvenile offenders, although their duration is halved for juveniles.
The offence of loitering or soliciting for the purposes of prostitution has never been in Schedule 3 to the 2003 Act, so convictions or cautions for that offence have not triggered the notification requirements for sex offenders.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Government's response to Recommendation 3 of the report entitled National Audit on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, published on 16 June 2025, what her planned timetable is for introducing a disregard for convictions of people who were (a) groomed and (b) convicted of prostitution as children.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government has announced its intention to implement a disregard scheme for convictions and cautions issued to under 18s for the offence of persistently loitering or soliciting in a street or public place for the purpose of prostitution (Section 1 of Street Offences Act, 1959).
Any individual who has received convictions or cautions while under 18 for this offence will be able to apply to the scheme, regardless of whether they have been a victim of ‘grooming’ or ‘group-based child sexual exploitation’.
This reflects the Government’s belief that any procurement of sex from an individual aged under 18 is sexual exploitation of children.
The Government is collaborating now with relevant authorities to determine the implementation timeframe for this scheme and will announce this in due course.